Mike Henry,who played the character Cleveland on Family Guy has stepped down.Henry, who also voiced the character on the now-canceled The Cleveland Show, made the announcement on twitter citing that a person of color deserved to play characters of color as his reason for stepping down.
It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years. I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role. pic.twitter.com/FmKasWITKT
— Mike Henry (@mikehenrybro) June 26, 2020
The announcement comes shortly after The Simpsons declared it would no longer have White actors voice non-White characters, a decision that came months after Hank Azaria said he would no longer voice the popular Simpsons character Apu, which had been criticized as a racist, stereotypical and demeaning portrayal of South Asian people.
Popular comedian Jenny Slate also step down from her role on Big Mouth as Missy Foreman-Greenwald, a young mixed-race girl. In an explanation posted to Instagram, Slate wrote, “Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people.”
Citing her own “pervasive privilege,” Kristen Bell also announced she is leaving her role as a mixed-race character on the Apple TV+ animated series Central Park.
A statement addressing the issue said that: Bell and the creative team behind the show recognize ” the casting of the character of Molly is an opportunity to get representation right – to cast a Black or mixed race actress and give Molly a voice that resonates with all the nuance and experiences of the character as we’ve drawn her.”
Alison Brie, who voiced Vietnamese character Diane Nguyen on Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman” also spoke out on Friday, saying she wishes she hadn’t voiced the character.
“I now understand that people of color, should always voice people of color. We missed a great opportunity to represent the Vietnamese-American community accurately and respectfully, and for that I am truly sorry,” she wrote. “I applaud all those who stepped away from their voiceover roles in recent days. I have learned a lot from them.”
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